What attracts a reader to a book?

[Cathy]

What attracts a reader to a book? The cover? The book jacket description? A friend's recommendation?
What do you think?

[Martin]

1. Author recognition - most readers will be attracted to a specific author, first and foremost ( and James Patterson is always #1) 2. genre, like author recognition a good numberof readers are attracted to ONLY specific genres, with romance, mysteries, and thrillers leading the pack. 3 Placement - new books, and books on the "new book shelf" usually get "grab & go" attention. 4. Covers - yes, attractiveness of covers, and the first 4 points I noted are what attracts readers to books - most other factors are of dubious relevance. Utilities like collectionHQ (which, unfortunately Somerset County dropped) can provide excellent analysis to answer questions like this.

[SCLS Librarian Amy]

Lately I have been reading only recommendations from our teen librarian - anything that is similar to the Hunger Games trilogy!

Usually, however, the cover of the book has to catch my eye - and after that is depends on the book jacket description. One of my pet peeves is when a book cover is changed after the book is made into a movie!!

[Cynthia]

For me, it is the back cover description if I don't know the author. If I do know the author, that is likely why I am reading the book. I tend to read more from people I like.